Tuesday, July 29, 2008

The girls are enjoying a music & movement dance class this summer. You don't have to wear ballet inspired outfits. Half the kids do, half don't. But who could resist how cute they look in them. It's the first step they must take to enroll in the tap/ballet combo for 2 year olds. Mommy's are NOT allowed in that class. In their class now parents are encouraged to watch but and only interact if your child needs extra 'encouragement'. My girls need extra 'encouragement'. They still have some mommy attachment issues (well in all honesty it's mostly Addee). I am hoping this class helps them get over that. I have tried to leave them in the nursery at the gym and I get that dreaded call over the loud speaker. "Would the mommy of Addison please walk with your head hanging low to get your child as we can't handle listening to her cry anymore"...ok maybe not in those exact words but close. I have tried leaving them numerous time in the nursery at our church and about 10 minutes into the sermon some one peaks their head in and points to me and I have to duck out of church and spend the rest of the with everyone else's well adjusted children and my leg clinger. Don't get me wrong...I love my leg clinger but I would also love to be able to go to the gym every once in a while for more than 15 minutes. So cross your fingers that these prima ballerina's expand their wings and fly off mommy's leg.

Sunday, July 20, 2008

While changing into my swimsuit yesterday Addison looks at my c-section scar, as she often does. She rubs her fingers over it. Then she looks up at me and asks "Did Daddy bite you?" I relunctantly told her no even though in the big scheme of things it was daddy who 'bit' me.

Thursday, July 10, 2008

I took the girls to the Noah's Ark Art exhibit at the Skirball Center yesterday. I can't think of a word that gives it the justice it deserves. It was AMAZING! My girls loved everything about it. They could touch everything and explore all the wonderful elements of the Ark. I will definitely be taking them again. I had heard great things about it but hadn't actually known anyone personally who had been there. If you are ever in the LA areatake your kids to see this exhibit. You will not be disappointed. It was great for kids of all ages. You are going to be in picture overload but I just could not leave out any of the images.The exhibit takes you on the adventure of the Ark's story. It was incredibly interactive.

Petting the zebras.

Some of the animals were definitely artistic. Some were stuffed animals and some were just beautifully designed statues. This Alligator was made out of tires, an old violin case, black gloves and syringes for the teeth. It was really awesome.

The first area you enter into is all about creating the storm. Here Addison is pumping this bike pump up & down to create wind that makes all the leaves fly around in the tunnel.

Here Charlotte is pumping a water hose that makes the rain pour down and the Ark rises with the flood.

All of these animals were on some type of device that the kids could twist, turn, push, ect. to make the animals move and make noises.

This was just an Ark with plastic animals that the girls stacked two in each box.

This was on the 'inside' of the Ark. They had different rooms to show how they stored all the food for the animals. This is obviously the corn room

A conveyor belt that the kids put the animals two by two and it rolled the animals up into the Ark.

This was a section where they actually built the walls of the Ark. This seemed to be a BIG hit with lots of kids.

Inside the Ark cleaning up the poop from the animals.

And what Ark is not complete without a climbing adventure. Going Up...

Coming down.

'Eating' at the table with some new friends.

This elephant was too cool I just had to take a picture of it.

Same with the Lion.

This is the 'outside' of the Ark where they have coloring and various activities for the kids.

Addison was a HUGE fan of the blocks. She was really great at stacking them really high.

A fox puppet that was cruising around.Outside the exhibit they have a rainbow mist garden to enjoy in the summer months. The girls had a blast running through it over and over.

Tuesday, July 8, 2008

Sunday, July 6, 2008

We headed down to sunny and cool San Diego for the weekend. The news was forecasting heat in the 100's for the 4th of July at home so we wanted outta the heat for a while.We packed in so much fun I think we had our share for the summer...well at least mommy has had her share of crazy crowded places for a while.

Day 1We drove down during the girls nap time so we only had half of the first day to play but we made the most of it for sure. We visited with the girls great grandparents. The girls are their only great grandchildren so far...they have two more on the way :) The girls really liked to show off all their tricks. They had huge smiles on their faces the entire time we were there. I think my grandparents did too. GGpa's drums and GGma's scarves were some of their fav's by far.

Addee and Great Grandpa.

Charlee with one of Great Grandma's scarves.

Rockin' out with daddy.

Singing 'Twinkle Twinkle'.Are you watching us Great Grandpa?

Kisses for Great Grandma from Charlee are the best!

Day 2Thursday we took the girls to Sea World. They had such a great time. I think their favorite part was the Shamu Rocks Show. He was awesome. The girls could not take their eyes off him.We got to pet dolphins, starfish and sea rays. They loved seeing Nemo in person too. The Shark Encounter was amazing. If you were considering taking your kids to Sea World Go GO Go!!! We had so much fun.Holy fishy's!!

Those are some BIG teeth

Family pic on the teacup ride. Way too much spinning for mommy's liking

I think this sea otter wanted Addee's gram cracker

Touching the dolphin's. This was mommy's favorite.

Touching the starfish

Shamu Rocks!!!

This was pretty much their expressions thru the entire Shamu show.

Addee LOVES cotton candy...specially at 10 o'clock at night :)

Day 3 (4th of July)The Del Mar Fair was going on in SD while we were there and who can resist junk food, petting zoo's and creepy old men working all the kiddie rides. :) Not us! We ate till we got sick...not literally, rode a dozen rides...thankfully the girls were just tall enough to ride most alone, and petted a handful of stinky animals. The girls were in heaven. Then later that night we went down to the Oceanside pier to watch the fireworks show. I think all of Oceanside was there with us. It was crazy crowded. My sister in law wrote her phone number on her daughter's arm in case she wandered off. I had never seen so many people in one place. Unfortunately the fog rolled in just before the show so the fireworks were not visible...super bummer. But thank you to all the people who don't obey the laws and fired off illegal fireworks so my kids could enjoy. They were just as happy.

Boat ride with cousin Summer.

Can you tell they enjoyed the swings?

Posing for just a sec for a 4th of July pic with mommy.

Feeding the goats.

Charlee was a huge fan of the pot belly pig.

Day 4A day at the beach. We snuck onto Camp Penalton's beach because we heard they had a great cove for kids where they are no waves to knock them down. I will admit I was a wee bit scared of being put into the military jail with my toddlers :) BUT it was wonderful. We had a wonderful day. It was a relaxing way to end a crazy, busy, fun weekend.

Filling up the bucket.

Addee found a crabby pet.

Down to the water for a quick dip.

Two happy sunbathers.

Digging holes with cousin Christian.

I just couldn't resist this one.My sweet but dirty Charlee Bean.

Thank you to Tom & Marina (my Brother-in-law and sister-in-law) for housing all six of us. We had to take our two giant dogs with us cuz we were worried about the high heat and them freaking over the fireworks. We had SO MUCH FUN!!!